A slow but steady increase in Windsor-Essex home sales is set to make the region one of the best performing real estate markets in Ontario this year and next, says a forecast released Wednesday by ReMax.

The national real estate firm’s latest outlook says home sales are on track to increase three per cent over 2011 and another two per cent in 2013. The average price of a home, about $176,000 this year, is also set to move up another notch to around $180,000 in 2013.

The settlement of contracts between the Detroit Three and the Canadian Auto Workers in September put some extra wind into the region’s sails that is expected to hold strong into 2013, said Glen Muir, a local ReMax Preferred Realty Ltd. owner and broker.

“It’s brought a lot of optimism and people have once again had faith in purchasing homes in the Windsor and Essex County area,” he said.

So much so, that real estate agents were reporting multiple offers for homes in sought-after areas of South Windsor, Tecumseh, Riverside, and LaSalle.

“While bidding wars remain the exception, the re-emergence of this phenomenon — absent for the past several years — is a positive sign of the strengthening belief in home ownership,” says the ReMax report.

Many houses in the city core that were purchased for $50,000 to $70,000 as the economy hit bottom in 2009 have been renovated and are now back up for sale for prices in the $80,000 to $120,000 range, it says.

The rundown homes — many of which were sold or given up by folks who lost their jobs and couldn’t keep up with mortgage payments — were snapped up by local and some out-of-town buyers, Muir said.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people suffered because of the downturn in the economy — not only here but in the rest of Ontario, Canada and the U.S. But there were people who had money put away that turned around and took advantage of that; were handy, have bought and fixed them up and now they’re slowly starting to come back on the market,” he said.

Still, there were 35 sales in October of homes, including a few undeveloped lots, that went for less than $60,000 “if you can believe that,” said Muir.

The strongest demand is for homes in the $80,000 to $240,000 price range, Muir said. There’s also steady demand for the small number of high priced homes over $350,000 on the market, says the ReMax report.

It also notes first-time buyers in the Windsor area haven’t been discouraged by new lending rules requiring bigger down payments.

Town homes between $170,000 and $250,000 are a hot commodity, especially with empty nesters.

Selling a condominiums, on the other hand, is a struggle. They have not caught on the way they have in bigger Canadian cities and local supply is outstripping demand, Muir said.

The sale of mid-price range homes “continues to be propped up by in-migration, as Windsor continues to attract buyers from across Southern Ontario — many from pricier markets — due to its warmer weather, affordability and increasing reputation as an attractive retirement destination,” says the ReMax report.

If inflated housing prices in Vancouver and Toronto take a dive, as some fear could happen, it won’t affect the Windsor region, Muir said. “We’ve already bottomed out.”

Home sales in the Greater Toronto region are expected to be five per cent below 2011 and then hold steady in 2013, says the ReMax forecast. The London-St. Thomas region, where about 3,000 more homes a year are sold than in Windsor-Essex, is expected to see a one per cent drop in sales compared to 2011 and an increase of 2.5 per cent in 2013.

Nationally, an estimated 454,000 homes will have changed hands in 2012, one per cent fewer than in 2011. ReMax expects sales to stay at that level in 2013. The average price of a Canadian home is expected to remain stable at $364,000 in 2012.

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